


How To Win Friends And Manipulate People

by ibided



Series: The Cat Formerly Known As Prince [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Cute, Gen, Lokitty, Shapeshifter Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-03-04
Packaged: 2018-01-14 13:15:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1267741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibided/pseuds/ibided
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a cold winter afternoon Darcy makes a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Win Friends And Manipulate People

**Author's Note:**

> The timing of this (and the rest of the series) assumes that Thor: TDW took place in October/November, with Loki then coming to Earth in early November. I don't know the specifics of this past winter in an around NYC, but I hear it's been a bit craycray.

Early December and already it was shaping up to be a very cold winter. So Thor had said, and if anyone Darcy knew was reliable at predicting the weather it was the so-called God of Thunder. She’d heard it said that New York City was a magical place in winter, but as another droplet of cold rain somehow bypassed her scarf and trickled down the back of her neck, she wondered if maybe they’d been overstating things a bit.

“’It’s not far’,” Darcy muttered, sourly quoting her own thoughts from fifteen minutes ago – back when it wasn’t raining. “’It’ll be easier to walk home.’ _Idiot_ , Darcy.” She shivered as she stepped inside her apartment building, so thankful to be out of the drizzle and into the warmth that she almost missed the little black cat sitting by the door.

“Hey, kitty. You made it inside today. Good for you.” After Darcy stopped to check her mail (nothing, yay) she found the cat sniffing at her bag of groceries with interest. “Smell something you like? Probably the chicken.” She scratched the little creature’s head affectionately.

“You know, if you come up to my place you can have some breast.” She snickered to herself, thinking that if she hadn’t been talking to a cat it would have sounded like an entirely different proposition. When the elevator doors opened with a _ding_ , Darcy scooped up the cat with one hand, the groceries with the other and stepped inside.

She was fairly certain by now that the cat had no owner. After talking with some of her neighbours in the past few weeks Darcy had just about come to the conclusion that she was the only one even aware of his existence. This seemed odd, considering she saw the little black shadow every time she entered or exited the building, but then again one of the few compliments Jane ever gave her (directly, at least) was that she could be surprisingly observant. It had taken a little coaxing, but he had slowly warmed to her, allowing scratches behind the ears and rubbing under his chin. Now, riding in the elevator cuddled against Darcy’s chest, he didn’t seem to be perturbed in the least.

In fact he looked a little smug.

Darcy skilfully juggled her load and unlocked her apartment door, setting the cat down just inside the door. He immediately took to exploring the place – nose first as cats are wont to do. Darcy rid herself of her coat, damp scarf and sweater and snuggled up in her favourite Culver University hoodie; she selected some rainy-day tunes on her iPod and set about preparing the chicken to make her special cold-weather creamy chicken casserole.

True to her word, Darcy saved the trimmed chicken fat as well as a little chicken breast – a treat for her new little friend – and placed it in a saucer on the floor.

“Kitty!” she called, and then nearly jumped out of her skin when he immediately appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Holy crap! You’re a sneaky little thing, aren’t you?” If cats could smirk, Darcy was sure that this one would be doing just that. There was a tiny mischievous glint in his eye as he tucked in to his meal, eating with more elegance and grace than some princes that she knew (*ahem* Thor).

Once the casserole was in the oven and the kitchen was spotless the cat had disappeared again, most likely investigating the rest of the apartment. Darcy made herself a cup of tea and settled onto the sofa to read her book. It was a very good book, which is why she was entirely too slow to stop the cat from jumping up onto the coffee table and finishing the last few sips of her tea. When it was all gone he looked at her imperiously and gave a demanding _meow_.

It must have been the expression on his face, mustn’t it? It must have been that arrogant look of entitlement that reminded her so strongly of Thor. That had to be the reason that she suddenly had a strong mental image of the little creature smashing the mug on the floor and crying ‘Another!’.

Darcy burst out laughing at the thought, giggling so madly that the cat began to look a little affronted at the behaviour of the strange human.

“I’m gonna call you ‘Prince’,” Darcy declared. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

Prince looked pleased, licking his chops and then moving on to clean his front paw. He then leapt across the gap to the other end of the sofa, curled up into a tight little ball of black fur and fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is an appropriation of "How To Win Friends And Influence People." Darcy thinks she is winning a friend and Loki can't help but be manipulative, even as a kitty.


End file.
